Fishbowl discussion, science slam, or bar camp – which format is suited best for which purposes of science communication? What is the focus of science communication research and which findings are made available by the “Science of Science Communication?” What do jobs and careers in science communication look like? And what does the community discuss? The new online portal www.wissenschaftskommunikation.de wants to answer these questions. One partner of the cooperation project is the Science Communication Unit of the Institute for German Studies of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
The portal is intended to be the information and discussion platform for public relations workers, scientists, science journalists, and the interested public. wissenschaftskommunikation.de reflects current trends and topics and offers support for daily science communication work. Beginning science communicators will find information on science communication approaches, professionals will find further qualification offers.
wissenschaftskommunikation.de is the joint project of Science in Dialogue (WiD), the National Institute for Science Communication (NaWik), and the Science Communication Unit of the Institute for German Studies of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Team members from all three institutions search contents, weighs them, and processes them for users. The portal is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Klaus Tschira Foundation.
“Science communication was further developed and professionalized in the past years,” says Markus Weißkopf, Managing Director of Science in Dialogue. “Apart from our annual Science Communication Forum, we have now established the portal as a virtual place, where interested persons can inform themselves, exchange information, and contribute information any time.”
The platform provides orientation in the meanwhile very dense jungle of science communication formats. Never before were there so many different communication forms and strategies. New dialog formats make communicators and scientists face new challenges. “With our offer we want to strengthen actors and offer central information to them,” Beatrice Lugger, Scientific Director of NaWik, points out. This also includes a list of further qualification offers.
Research is covered by a separate section in the portal: “Here, we offer latest studies, background information, and discourse at the interface between science of science communication and practice. In this way, we provide access to the variety of research activities in this area,” Professor Dr. Annette Leßmöllmann, Head of the Science Communication Unit of KIT’s Institute for German Studies, says.
Information: www.wissenschaftskommunikation.de
The project partners:
Science in Dialogue (WiD) is a non-profit organization fostering discussion and exchange of information on research in Germany. WiD organizes discussions, exhibitions or competitions and develops new formats of science communication. http://www.wissenschaft-im-dialog.de/en/about-us/
The National Institute for Science Communication, a non-profit limited liability company, was established in 2012 by the Klaus Tschira Foundation and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The Institute imparts to researchers and students the fundamentals of understandable and good science communication with non-specialists. www.nawik.de (in German only)
The Science Communication Unit of the Institute for German Studies: Literature, Language, Media of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) imparts and studies aspects relating to digital science communication in particular. www.geistsoz.kit.edu/wmk (in German only)
Your contact partners:
Science in Dialogue (WiD)
Head of Public Relations
Dorothee Menhart
Tel.: 030 2062295-55
dorothee menhart ∂does-not-exist.w-i-d de
Project Head Thorsten Witt
Tel.: 030 2062295-70
thorsten witt ∂does-not-exist.w-i-d de
National Institute for Science Communication (NaWik)
Press Contact
Michelle Haspel
Tel.: 0721 60841717
haspel ∂does-not-exist.nawik de
Scientific Director
Beatrice Lugger
Tel.: 0721 608 41653
lugger ∂does-not-exist.nawik de
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Chief Press Officer
Monika Landgraf
Tel.: 0721 608-48126
monika landgraf ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Institute for German Studies / Science Communication Unit
Prof. Dr. Annette Leßmöllmann
Tel.: 0721 608-41659
annette lessmoellmann ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.